Cloth plate for sewing machines



June 5, 1923.

. 1,457,449 J. R. MOFFATT n CLOTH PLATEl FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept.l2 1921 f z C@ gwventoz adorna Patented June 5, l923.

UNITEDSTATES;

PTNTI FFIE'- JAMES n. MOIFATT, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,v AssIeNon To. UNIONSPECIAL- MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or'ILLINOIs.

CLOTH PLATEA Non SEWING MACHINES.

l Application filed September T aZZwLo/m, l#may concern.' n

Be it known that I, JAMES R. MOFFATT, a citizen of the United States,residing at` Chicago, in the county of'Cook, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth Plates for SewingMachines, of which the following 1s a description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing and to the figures Of 1o reference markedthereon.

The invention relates to newan provements in cloth 'plates for sewingmachines, and moreparticularly tomeans for holding the cover platethereof from accidental displacement. y l

An object of the invention is to provide a cloth plate constructionwherein the'cofver plate is springpres'sed u cause the inclineddovetailed walls of the sides thereof to `engage and frictionally bindupon the inclined dovetailed walls along the sides of the OpeningVclosed by the cover plate. .s v A vfurther ob]- ect of the invention isto provide a cloth plate construction of the above character, whereinthe spring means is lo.- cated between the ends of the side walls alongthe opening so that when the cover plate is 'first entered 'into thedovetailed groove therefor, `it is free fromactionthere.-

on by the springmeans. Y 'y A stillfurther Object of the invention is toprovide a cover plate construction of the above character whereinthespring means is in the' form of a leaf spring located at one side ofthe opening only, and said leaf spring is so shaped on the upper'surface thereof that-the cover plate may readily ride over the same. l

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will inpart behereinafter more fully disclosed. Y.

In the drawings which show by Way of illustration one embodiment of theinvention- Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a cover plateembodyingmy improvements;

Fig. 2 is a sectional viewy on the line 2--2 of Fig. l;

of Fig. l;

Fig; 4L is a sectional view on the line 4.-4

of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the portion of a. cloth plate with thecover plate just d useful impwardly sov as to'A Fig. 3 is a sectionalview on the line 3+?)v 12,1921. sriai No. 500,179.` f

entering the dovetailed recess therefor, and

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view throughthe end of the leafspring."V In the drawings I have shown a cloth plate which is` indicatedat. 1,'. which cloth plateis provided with the usual throat plater 2having a slot for the feeddog 3 and a l hole for the needle 4. Thisthroat plate may of course, be of any character, and the form shown ispurely for the purpose of descrip-` is an'opening through-I the clothplate. The opening on the right as viewed'in Fig. '1 is tion. At eachside ofthe throat` plate there closed by a ycover plate 5. The opening'on l `the left as viewed insaid figure is closed by a cover plate 6.' ,s

The present invention has to do -with means for'holding the cover platein place so as `to prevent its ac'cider'ital` displacement, i

Themeans as applied to the two cover plates 5 andf is identical and thedescription of one will answer for the other," like reference charactersbeing used to indicate the parts l associated with f the different coverplates. The side walls of the opening closed'by the cover plate 6incline towardl the center plane of the opening` as'clearly shown inFig. 4,'

wherethese inclined walls are indicated at V 7 7.' These inclinedwalls'form a dovetailed recess. The sidewallsof the cover plate are sylikewise inclined inwardlyk toward the center plane to'correspond withthe inclined' walls L -7, and thus it is lthat the cover plates are,dovetailed in cross section. These inclinedv walls ofthe cover platevare indicated atv 8 8.' Alongthe bottom of theinclined'walls 7-7 aresupporting'ledge'sQ-Q on' whichithe' *i cover plate may -rest asv itenters the dove'- tailedy recess. The distance'between the inclinedwalls 8-8 of the cover plate is slightly less thanthe distance betweenthe inclinedwalls along the side of the openings as dicatedl in Fig. 2.l y

Securedto the under side of the cloth plate isa leaf spring 10. Saidspringis securedto the cloth plate by means of aV screw 11.` The spring10 ,isiy bent upwardly at 12 and at its outer end is provided with ahorizontal portion 13 adapted to` bear against the under face of thecover plate. Said spring is rounded olf at lil-14 on the upper sidetherecf. Whenthe cover plate is entered into the dovetailed recess, itmay be readily. entered `because it is of 'slightly less width thantheVL dovetailed recess into which it is placed. As

Cil

it is moved forward, the forward end of the cover plate will ride overthe incline 1eon the leaf spring, thus forcing the lea-f springdownwardly slightly, or the cover plate will be yieldingly force-dupwardly causing the inclined wall 8 of the cover plate to slide alongthe inclined wall 7 at the side ofthe opening,v and this will force thecover plate laterally until the side wall at the. opposite side of thecover plate makes frictional contact with the side wall of the openingopposite the spring. Thus it is that both the side walls of the coverplate will be caused by the spring to frictionally engage the respect'veside walls along` the opening'. `Thi,- frictional engagement of the sidewalls oi the opening by the cover plate serves to hold the cover platefrom accidental displacement, but at the same time permits the coverplate to be withdrawn and to also permit t ie cover plate to be readilysupported in the dovetailed recess and forced inwardly to close theopening.

It isobvious that minor changes in the details of construction may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth inthe appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure bylietters-Patent, is

1. A cloth plate for sewing machines having an opening therethrough,acover plate for said opening, said cloth plate being formed withsupporting ledges at opposite sides of theopening, and walls extendingupwardly from said ledges and forming a recess for the cover" plate,said cover plate having walls at the opposite sides thereofcorresponding to the walls of the recess in the cloth pla-te, thedistance of the supporting ledge at one side of the cloth plate and fromthe surface of the cloth plate being greater than the thickness of thecover plate, whereby when said cover plate rests on the supportingledge, it will fit loosely in the recess, and spring means for forcing'the cover plate upwardly and causing said cover plate to frictionallyengage the cloth plate.

2. A cloth plate for sewing machines having an opening therethrough, astovel plate for said opening, said cloth plate being formed withsupporting ledges at opposite sides of the. opening, and inclined wallsextending upwardly from said ledges and forming a dove-tailed recess forthe cover plate, said cover plate having inclined walls at the oppositesides thereof corresponding to the inclinedy walls of the dove-tailedrecess in the cloth plate, the distance of the supporting ledge at oneside of the Cloth plate from the surface of the cloth plate beinggreater than the thickness of the cover plate whereby when said coverplate rests on the supporting ledges it will fit loosely 'in thedovetailed recess, and spring means for forcing the cover plate upwardlyand causing the inclined walls thereof to frictionally engage theinclined walls of the dove-tailed recess in said cloth plate.

8. A cloth plate for sewing machines having an opening therethrough, acover plate for said opening, said cloth plate being formed withsupporting ledges at opposite sides of the opening, and inclined wallsextending upwardly from said ledges and forming a dove-tailed recess forthe cover pla-te, said cover plate having inclined walls at theoppositesides thereof corresponding to the inclined walls of the dove-tailedrecess in the cloth plate, the dist-ance of the supporting ledge at oneside of the cloth plate from the surface of the cloth plate beinggreater than the thickness of the cover pla-te whereby whenl said coverplate rests on thev supporting ledges it will lit loosely in thedove-tailed recess, and spring means for forcing the cover plateupwardly and causing the inclined walls thereof to frict-iona-lly engagethe inclined walls of the dovetailed recess in said cloth plate, saidspring means including` a. leaf spring secured to the cloth plate atoneside'of the opening and between the ends of the inclined wall at oneside of the opening and bearing against the under face of the coverplate.

ln testimony whereof, Iathx my signature.

JAMES R. MGFFATT.

